


Under The Stars

by HyperKid



Series: Nights At Sea [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Boaty McBoatface - Freeform, Fluff, Navigators, Nights at sea, Other, PolyNein - Freeform, Star Gazing, soft nights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 10:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17160509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperKid/pseuds/HyperKid
Summary: Nights at sea are the perfect time for a quiet chat. With nothing but the stars above, what better time for two friends to catch up?





	Under The Stars

**Author's Note:**

> HK: so... good news. I have no problem writing Caduceus! He’s a lovely fluffy boy.   
> Mollymauk: Just what that group of lunatics need, isn’t he?   
> HK: Almost as much as they need you back.   
> Mollymauk: That’s what fanfiction is for, isn’t? 
> 
> WARNINGS!! I... I think none. This is deeply unnatural. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing, but some Christmas money will change that.

Nights on the sea were almost peaceful enough to make up for how crowded some of the days were. The Mighty Nein didn’t have any real specific duties on their first voyage, so with the opportunity to learn from professionals they were happy to take it. But deciding who was doing what... 

 

It might have been the peace of the night that drew Caduceus to the navigator role. It wasn’t exactly quiet; the ship creaked constantly, waves splashing on the sides, the sails shifting softly even on still nights. But they weren’t people noises. Like the sounds in his forest, just the noises of the Wildmother. Maybe that was why Caleb joined him. The wizard was another quiet one, another who liked the peace. 

 

Both were looking at other positions as well, though Caleb hadn’t found anything he liked. Caduceus was a natural caregiver so the position of bosun held its own appeal. He was good at finding food and taking care of people. How different could ships be? Jester had given the position some half hearted attention, but none of their group seemed overly interested. 

 

Caduceus would take the position if no one else wanted it, but he did love to watch the seas and the skies. 

 

It was a quiet night as they sailed away from the newly sunken temple, early on in their journey towards Darktow. The Squall Eater’s main navigator was at the wheel, watching the skies in the peaceful night. Caleb and Caduceus had wandered to a more secluded point on the bow without really talking about it. Their ostensible mentor didn’t mind. Caleb’s sense of direction had already proven useful, and Caduceus was used to watching the stars. 

 

They sat side by side for a while in companionable silence, faces turned to the sky. Caleb broke it, his shoulder brushing the firbolg’s as he pointed to the sky. 

 

“They called that one the Ranger, where I come from,” he said softly, fingers sketching out a constellation in the stars. Caduceus cocked his head to one side, watching the wizard’s finger. 

 

“All of the stars in that group, or one of them?” His voice was soft, the same slightly bemused warmth the Nein heard a lot of when they showed him something new. Caleb shifted around to face him a little, a slight frown on his face. 

 

“Do they not have the constellations in Shadycreek Run?” He couldn’t hide his surprise, but Caduceus wasn’t one to be offended. The cleric just smiled, shifting his focus to Caleb as well. 

 

“I don’t know what they had in the town. But out in the graveyard, we called the stars by their own names. My sisters used to look for shapes and patterns. Is that the kind of thing you mean?” 

 

Caleb’s cheeks flushed and he nodded, eyes flitting awkwardly to the deck of the ship. He hadn’t meant to make Caduceus feel ignorant, no matter how little the large firbolg seemed to care. He just wanted to make conversation. 

 

“Ja,” he whispered, fingertips scuffing over the wooden boards. Caduceus stayed quiet and continued watching him, waiting for Caleb to continue. The weight of his attention pulled more words from Caleb. 

 

“I used to watch the stars with my father,” he said softly, gaze straying upwards towards the sky. “He would tell me each of the constellations and the heroes they were named for. In the old days great heroes would be taken by the gods and placed among the stars when they died,” he explained, glancing at Caduceus to check that he was following. The firbolg was watching him with a kind of calm fascination that would have been intense from Beau or Jester, but from Caduceus was too laid back for that. It was... nice. How Caleb imagined being a teacher would feel, with an especially good student. 

 

Caduceus nodded slowly, eyes shifting from Caleb’s face to the sky. 

 

“It would make an admirable resting place,” he mused, their twinkling reflecting in his large eyes. “So constellations are like the official patterns between stars, as grave markers?” 

 

“I suppose so,” Caleb agreed, surveying the skies as well. “There are lots of different places with their own constellations, and their own heroes.” 

 

“I would like to learn them all,” Caduceus decided, leaning back on his hands. “Could you teach me yours?” 

 

Caleb glanced over at the lanky firbolg, then up to the skies. 

 

“It would take quite a while to learn them all,” he said slowly, brows furrowing a little. 

 

“But it would be an interesting journey,” Caduceus replied evenly. Silence fell for a little while between them as both considered the skies. Then Caleb pointed towards the Ranger once more. 

 

“You can see his outline between the brightest stars. Those three there make his shoulders, then down to the two at his waist.” 

 

Caduceus leaned closer to sight along Caleb’s arm, making a pleased noise when he saw the patterns. 

 

“Perhaps we can borrow one of the star charts for you to show me? Then I can learn the ones for other seasons, too.” His slow, methodical voice was always soothing. This close, with fur prickling against his cheek, it sounded almost intimate. 

 

Caleb flushed a little, glancing about the skies for confirmation of what he already knew. 

 

“Ja... we are too south now for half of the constellations I know. Just the Ranger and the Cups.” That was what really brought home to him just how far they had come; the stars were changing. The Ranger was higher than he’d been for most of Caleb’s life, though he couldn’t mistake the shape. 

 

Caduceus made an interested sound, shifting a little closer to better see from Caleb’s perspective. 

 

“Do you think the others would know the constellations for this part of the world?” 

 

Caleb tried to actually consider it, quelling a brief flare of jealousy at the thought of sharing this time. 

 

“Fjord might,” he supposed, leaning back a little into the firbolg’s slender shape. “He has sailed before, though not as a navigator. And I am sure Jester and Yasha would know other constellations.” 

 

The two were both from beyond the empire, from foreign lands with different stars. Different stories. Caduceus made a soft, happy sound and smiled at the sky. 

 

“Do you think they would like to tell us?” 

 

“I think you would be hard pressed to persuade Jester to stop,” Caleb muttered, a soft smile on his face. 

 

“I suppose it would balance with Ms Yasha. She doesn’t seem like the sharing sort,” Caduceus mused with a low chuckle. Caleb hummed thoughtfully in response, considering. 

 

“Yasha is... quiet,” he agreed, “but I think we may be able to persuade her. She may be with us for quite a while now that we are at sea.” 

 

A noncommittal hum came from his left and Caleb glanced over. 

 

“I don’t suppose you are enjoying the sea,” the wizard remarked dryly. That made Caduceus laugh, wry acknowledgement on his face. 

 

“It is... not as pleasant as I thought on the beach,” he conceded with a nod towards the waves. “A lot more dangerous. But that is to be expected from nature.” 

 

Caleb nodded as well, lips curling into a faint smile. 

 

“I suppose it is. I don’t know what I expected, but I suspect it was not this much.” 

 

“This has been a lot,” the firbolg agreed with a low sigh. The smile was a little unexpected, though. “But if we weren’t at sea, we couldn’t have come far enough to see new stars. There’s something peaceful about being far from anyone, even the birds.” 

 

Caleb considered his words for a while, his gaze drifting back up to the sky. 

 

“That is true,” he said slowly, leaning a little more into Caduceus’ side. “And I have learned a lot of things I never thought to know.” 

 

Never necessarily cared to know either, but Caleb enjoyed knowledge in any form he could get it. You never knew what might come in useful. 

 

Caduceus grinned in the dark, bumping Caleb’s shoulder with his own. 

 

“That’s right. We’ve all learned some strange new things, and found out more about Fjord’s problems. Whatever happens next, we know more now than when we started.” 

 

“Even if we almost drowned for it?” Caleb asked. He couldn’t fight an answering smile, though. Perhaps a new perspective was all he had needed. 

 

Caduceus shrugged, leaning back on his hands on the deck. 

 

“We all made it out alive. And we have enough diamonds to keep us that way for at least a little while. I don’t think it’s so bad for there to be consequences to our actions; people need something to keep them humble. The power of the sea is good for that.” 

 

Caleb stifled a laugh, his mind immediately turning to a certain pirate captain. 

 

“Unless you believe you can control the power of the sea,” he noted, and Caduceus snickered too. 

 

“I wouldn’t tell Avantika, but Miss Jester and I can both move water the way she does anyway. It’s not a basic magic by any means, but it’s hardly the divine power she hopes for.” 

 

That drew Caleb’s gaze around and he frowned at the firbolg. 

 

“You mean you could move the water behind the boat as she does?” This was news, especially given how many recent adventures had involved water. Caduceus shrugged, his smile oddly mischievous. 

 

“Not more than once a day, but it’s very doable. I’m sure you could learn to do it too if you wanted to?” 

 

It was an idea which honestly hadn’t occurred to Caleb; he collected magic the way Nott collected buttons, but his predisposition was always to fire. Water wasn’t his realm of experience. But it could be useful... 

 

“I would like that, if we could find a suitable scroll and some paper?” Which, of course, they wouldn’t find until they were no longer at sea. 

 

After the most useful time for him to learn the spell. 

 

But that was pretty much how magic usually worked. 

 

Caduceus nodded again, his calm smile firmly in place. 

 

“I’m sure we can handle that. It’s not like we’ll be on this boat forever.” 

 

“Though the boat would be a good place to practice,” Caleb noted and leaned a little more towards the side of the boat to glance down at the black water. He couldn’t say he was hugely fond of it at the moment. 

 

Caduceus leaned towards him to look as well, easily tall enough to rest his chin on top of Caleb’s head. It was.... from anyone else, it would have been intimidating. Caleb himself was not a short man, and not used to being towered over. 

 

Luckily, the firbolg carried such an aura of peace with him that it was easy to feel safe at his side. Without thinking about it he found himself relaxing into the taller man’s presence. 

 

“It might be easier if we were a little closer,” Caduceus noted calmly, apparently unaware of the effects of his size. “We could take one of the little boats and string it behind the ship?” 

 

That drew Caleb’s attention and he frowned up at the firbolg. Until Caduceus drew back he was essentially looking up his nose. 

 

“You really are not afraid of the water?” He asked softly. All he could think about looking at the waves was the way the water had closed over his head in the temple, the burning in his lungs as he struggled to hold his breath. How close they had all come to the end. 

 

Caduceus gave Caleb another soft smile. 

 

“It’s like I said when we met, Mr Caleb. Violence and death are all part of nature. I may not have been... expecting things to go this way when I joined the Mighty Nein, but I always knew I could die on the path. I need to trust that the Wildmother will guide me where I need to be.” 

 

He sounded so sure, so certain. Caleb had to suppose that was the benefit of being a cleric; a certainty that at least something was there. 

 

Caleb knew the gods existed. He also knew that none of them gave a fuck about him or his problems. Better to rely on yourself, your own power, and maybe, if you were lucky... your friends. 

 

He managed a small smile, resting a hand on Caduceus’ elbow. His shoulder would be almost silly to reach for. 

 

“And if the worst were to happen, we would not leave you behind. Jester has a resurrection spell of her own... though knowing her, you might come back a little strange.” 

 

The thought of what Jester might do with a resurrection spell brought smiles to both of their lips, a low laugh on the breeze between them. 

 

“I’ve been told I’m a little strange to start with,” Caduceus pointed out, entirely unoffended, “but I think I like my hair the way it is.” 

 

“She might find a way to put candy stripes in it,” Caleb agreed with a soft chuckle. 

 

“I would never doubt her abilities,” Caduceus declared piously, a mischievous smile dancing around his lips. 

 

“It’s for the best, I believe she takes that as a challenge.” 

 

A comfortable silence fell between them, interspersed with all the little sounds of a ship underway. Even the soft slap of the waves was more a soothing background than a threat. 

 

A little time with no danger, no intrigue, nothing to run from or to. No lumbering elder gods reaching out to turn Fjord into the deep throat champion of the world. Perhaps it was all they needed. 

 

After a while, Caleb cleared his throat. 

 

“Do you know what awaits us in Darktow?” 

 

Caduceus glanced down at him, then shrugged. 

 

“Not in any of the specifics. Something about pirates, I believe, but I’m not sure what that means.” 

 

In all honesty, Caleb couldn’t be completely certain either. He had heard stories, of course, and read about them in books. All that sliding down sails with a knife in your teeth seemed suspect. Nothing he had read seemed the sort of thing that Caduceus would enjoy, though. 

 

“It will likely be a... shifty placed. Filled with many suspicious people.” He wasn’t sure what he was trying to warn Caduceus about, not if he had to put it into words. The firbolg was bluff, and honest, and kind, but at the base of it all Caleb had seen an uncompromising core. He couldn’t be shifted. 

 

And indeed, Caduceus was untroubled by the warnings. 

 

“I think many of the places we have been together have been filled with suspicious people,” he pointed out with a stinging accuracy that forced a laugh from Caleb. 

 

“I suppose that is true,” the wizard agreed, leaning a little more of his weight against the cleric. Caduceus took it without complaint, one arm shifting a little further behind Caleb to better support them both. 

 

“So long as we be ourselves, we’ll be fine.” Caduceus declared firmly, smiling up at the sky. Caleb glanced down at his fingers, twisted in his lap. 

 

“Ourselves... ja.” It would have been nice to think he could get away from himself, at least for a while. A new thought struck him, almost bringing back a smile. Perhaps he could. Perhaps he could hide in the person Caduceus seemed to think he was. 

 

It wouldn’t last, of course. It never could. A garbage person like Caleb could never be allowed peace. But... just a little reprieve. 

**Author's Note:**

> HK: There miiiiiiiight be a Winter’s Crest thing up later today, if I can work out what I want to do with it.   
> Mollymauk: Happy holidays!


End file.
